How to coast/glide?

[blank18]

This is my first hybrid, so I'm a newbie.

Anyhow, is it possible to coast with the 2011 Insight? I find that as soon as I take my foot off the accelerator the car feels like it is braking itself and my speed drops decently, even when going down big hills.

My old, non-hybrid car was able to hold it's speed for quite a while on flat ground without touching the accelerator and gain quite a bit of speed going down hills.

Thanks!

[Jayemtee]

It is possible, but not designed to work that way. When you lift your right foot, the energy of your rolling car is converted into electricity to charge the IMA battery. That's why you are slowing down. It is supposed to work that way.

If you really insist on coasting, you could put the tranny in Neutral. The car will coast in the more traditional manner that you are missing, but you are not charging the battery and you are burning gas. That goes against the design of the car.

Hopefully you will learn to change your driving habits to know just how much right foot is needed as you approach a stop. You can still do a lot of coasting and hardly use your brakes, but it won't be that same long coasting that you remember from your previous rides.

[Cobb]

Since it has no alternator it uses braking force to charge the hybrid and 12 volt battery. You can shift to neutral and turn the key off, but after a mile or so of doing this you end up in a negative recal as the hybrid battery voltage gets too low without the recharging that would normally take place.

What I do is ride my brake to a stop to get all the recharging I can without using the real brakes.

[insight78]

Originally Posted by blank18

This is my first hybrid, so I'm a newbie.

Anyhow, is it possible to coast with the 2011 Insight? I find that as soon as I take my foot off the accelerator the car feels like it is braking itself and my speed drops decently, even when going down big hills.

My old, non-hybrid car was able to hold it's speed for quite a while on flat ground without touching the accelerator and gain quite a bit of speed going down hills.

Thanks!

Putting it in Neutral works but can be somewhat bothersome. For me, if I'm in a situation where I want to purely coast, I feather the gas pedal lightly and hold to where the regen/assist gage needle is near the middle (no regen, no assist). It's not hard but you definitely develop a feel for doing this over time (I personally get my best round-trip mpg's trying to maximize time spent in this state). And of course when the hybrid battery is full you can completely coast as if you were in your old car.

[davidm]

I have some long downhill runs coming home from work and I often coast with my foot off the accelerator. I can get up to 40+ mph doing this. I sometimes have to use the brakes to keep from going to fast.

Am I doing something wrong?

I think you have to have some speed built up to start with.

[Cobb]

You need a good grade and some speed and fully inflated tires.

My metro on the other hand will coast a long ways in nutral.

[Enigmatique]

Originally Posted by Cobb

What I do is ride my brake to a stop to get all the recharging I can without using the real brakes.

How does one tell when one is doing purely regenerative braking (with no use of the real brakes) and when one is engaging the disc and drum brakes?

[Cobb]

Just give the brake petal a light tap. You should see a jump in regen strength and if your rear window is dirty, see a reflection of the red brake light.

[Mattie Num Nums]

Originally Posted by Cobb

Just give the brake petal a light tap. You should see a jump in regen strength and if your rear window is dirty, see a reflection of the red brake light.

I've noticed that my car regen's pretty quickly just coasting and braking normally at the last moment.